Why One Assembly?

What does this title even mean? It means that we will not have multiple services, even if we outgrow our space (outside of extenuating circumstances which may require it temporarily).

It is often said, "You don’t go to church, you are the church;” while we understand what is meant by this and can agree in part, it isn’t technically true and we believe it to be modernly unhelpful. The Greek word translated “church” throughout the New Testament, ekklesia, simply means physical assembly. The Davis Dictionary of the Bible defines it as, “The assembly of citizens summoned for legislative or other purposes.” This word is used even in the New Testament to refer to other types of assemblies of people, even assemblies without any spiritual connotation (Ac 19:32, 39,41, Ac 7:38, Heb 2:12). So you actually do “go to church” in that you go to the physical assembly of God’s people. And while the word ekklesia is occasionally used to refer to the universal church (looking forward to its final united assembly at the last day), the vast majority of times it is used to refer to a local body of physically gathered people, submitting to the same elders, holding one another accountable, and guarding the gospel together. Additionally, the New Testament portrays these local churches coming together/assembling as a whole on the first day of the week, not in parts; each assembly had its own elders, deacons, members, authority, etc. (1 Cor 5:4-5, 11:17-20, 33-34, 14:23-26, Rom 16:23, Ac 6:2, 14:23-27, 15:22, 15:30, 20:7)

So, in this simple sense, multiple services would constitute multiple churches. We believe this to be the case biblically and also practically, as multiple services makes it very difficult to know the body in the way that the New Testament assumes we will know and walk alongside one another. Also, it is hard to know and be known by the pastors who are accountable to know and shepherd you and to whom you are accountable. The practice of having multiple services to accommodate more people is incredibly modern, and while we do not want to condemn the many gospel preaching churches in our area that use the multiple service model in genuine effort to advance the Kingdom and save souls, we do not believe it is wise or the best way to be what the Lord intends for the local church to be.

SO WHAT WILL WE DO IF WE OUTGROW OUR SPACE?
The simple answer is we will either build a bigger sanctuary or (preferred and more likely) we will plant new entirely independent churches with their own pastors and members and budget, etc, likely sending some of our members to go and join that new embassy. We believe pastors are called to and gifted for individual churches, and that the model of “satellites” or “campuses” without their own in-person shepherds and independent authority are both unbiblical and unwise, though we affirm that God uses all sorts of churches to advance His kingdom.